It was a stunning moment when open-wheel racing star Juan Pablo Montoya announced in 2006 that he was moving to NASCAR stock-car racing. Here was a celebrated Colombian who had won the Indianapolis 500 and several races in the international Formula One series. including the Monaco Grand Prix, ready to bang fenders at tracks in Bristol, Tenn., and Darlington, S.C., among other NASCAR stops. "Historic" was the way NASCAR President Mike Helton put Montoya's desire to compete in the most popular form of U.S. motor racing.

Juan Pablo Montoya celebrated his return to Long Beach after 14 years with a fourth-place finish. Montoya won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach in 1999 but then left for Formula One racing in 2001 and, six years later, NASCAR stock car racing. He's back in IndyCar with Team Penske. The Colombian started 16th, was sent to the back of the 23-car field for improperly entering the pits when they were closed but then gained several spots thanks to a multicar crash midway through the race.

If you're a race-car driver in search of a job, it helps to know a billionaire. Racing mogul Roger Penske hired Juan Pablo Montoya to join his IndyCar team next year even though Penske doesn't yet have a single sponsor to help finance Montoya's car for even one race. No matter. Penske is willing to take a chance on Montoya, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 with owner Chip Ganassi but hasn't raced Indy-style cars since then. "The bottom line for us is that Juan has been a winner," Penske President Tim Cindric told reporters Monday.

Juan Pablo Montoya leaned his back against a wall, adjusted his sunglasses and waited for the next reporter to put a camera or voice recorder in front of him. It was media day for drivers in Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. And though it's been 14 years since Montoya raced in the event, he was the center of attention. Montoya is the prodigal son who has returned with fanfare to the Verizon IndyCar Series after stints in Formula One and, for the last seven years, NASCAR stock car racing.

Juan Pablo Montoya leaned his back against a wall, adjusted his sunglasses and waited for the next reporter to put a camera or voice recorder in front of him. It was media day for drivers in Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. And though it's been 14 years since Montoya raced in the event, he was the center of attention. Montoya is the prodigal son who has returned with fanfare to the Verizon IndyCar Series after stints in Formula One and, for the last seven years, NASCAR stock car racing.

INDIANAPOLIS - For NASCAR's drivers, at least, the Brickyard 400 remains one of the Sprint Car Series' marquee events despite the race's sliding attendance in recent years. "It's the obvious second" in prestige, Clint Bowyer said Friday before practicing for the 20th running of the race Sunday. "It's the Daytona 500 and then the Brickyard. " NASCAR estimated that 125,000 spectators attended last year's race. That's a sizable crowd but smaller than the 200,000-plus who came to the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 to see the novelty of stock cars racing around the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Two years ago, questions swirled about the long-term viability of Chip Ganassi's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team. Now, it's gunning to be a title contender. The team's drivers, Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, share the front row in Sunday's Auto Club 500 in Fontana, the second race of the 36-race Cup schedule. McMurray snagged the pole position at Auto Club Speedway five days after winning the season-opening Daytona 500 for Ganassi's team, which is co-owned by Teresa Earnhardt and Felix Sabates.

Juan Pablo Montoya is among auto racing's most daring and aggressive drivers, but even he knows that sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. The former Indianapolis 500 winner and Formula One driver switched to NASCAR stock car racing full time in 2007. It has often been a struggle, but he scored his only Sprint Cup Series win on the Infineon Raceway road course here that season.

Tony Stewart made a late outside pass on Juan Pablo Montoya and held on Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway to end a winless streak at 30 races. Stewart hadn't even had a top-five finish this season and was stuck in 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. He took the lead with the pass with three laps left in the 400-mile race. Seven-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson appeared to have the car to beat but jumped a restart and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

Mark Martin isn't shy about admitting that New Hampshire Motor Speedway isn't a place that he enjoys. As a driver who prefers to let it all hang out behind the wheel, the tight corners and long straightaways of the flat 1.058-mile oval don't play into Martin's strong suits. "I like rounder racetracks where you can get a handful of steering wheel and slide that baby and manipulate it to make it do something that it doesn't want to do," said Martin, who earned his series-high fifth victory of the season Sunday in the Sylvania 300. "You really can't do that here.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Over the last 75 laps or so of Sunday's Ford EcoBoost 400, it became increasingly apparent either Denny Hamlin or Dale Earnhardt Jr. would not end the Sprint Cup season winless. Five lead changes spanning the final 44 laps at Homestead-Miami Speedway were between Hamlin and Earnhardt. Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota retook it for good on Lap 244 and left Earnhardt to duel Matt Kenseth for second place Hamlin's second win at Homestead-Miami (23rd of his career)

If you're a race-car driver in search of a job, it helps to know a billionaire. Racing mogul Roger Penske hired Juan Pablo Montoya to join his IndyCar team next year even though Penske doesn't yet have a single sponsor to help finance Montoya's car for even one race. No matter. Penske is willing to take a chance on Montoya, who won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 with owner Chip Ganassi but hasn't raced Indy-style cars since then. "The bottom line for us is that Juan has been a winner," Penske President Tim Cindric told reporters Monday.

Kyle Larson, a 21-year-old racing prodigy from California, will move up to NASCAR's premier Sprint Cup Series next year with the team Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, sources said Wednesday. Larson, currently in his rookie year in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, will replace Juan Pablo Montoya on the two-car team, whose other Cup driver is Jamie McMurray, according to people familiar with the situation but who were not authorized to discuss it publicly. EGR, led by veteran team owner Chip Ganassi, declined comment.

It was a stunning moment when open-wheel racing star Juan Pablo Montoya announced in 2006 that he was moving to NASCAR stock-car racing. Here was a celebrated Colombian who had won the Indianapolis 500 and several races in the international Formula One series. including the Monaco Grand Prix, ready to bang fenders at tracks in Bristol, Tenn., and Darlington, S.C., among other NASCAR stops. "Historic" was the way NASCAR President Mike Helton put Montoya's desire to compete in the most popular form of U.S. motor racing.

INDIANAPOLIS - For NASCAR's drivers, at least, the Brickyard 400 remains one of the Sprint Car Series' marquee events despite the race's sliding attendance in recent years. "It's the obvious second" in prestige, Clint Bowyer said Friday before practicing for the 20th running of the race Sunday. "It's the Daytona 500 and then the Brickyard. " NASCAR estimated that 125,000 spectators attended last year's race. That's a sizable crowd but smaller than the 200,000-plus who came to the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 to see the novelty of stock cars racing around the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

INDIANAPOLIS - Paul Menard probably will feel bittersweet emotions when the NASCAR driver returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend. Menard won the Brickyard 400 at Indy in 2011 for his first Sprint Cup Series victory, ending four years of winless frustration. But Menard hasn't won since. As NASCAR prepares for this year's Brickyard 400 on Sunday, the 32-year-old Menard has gone 71 races without revisiting Victory Lane. While five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson has won races every year since he joined the series full time in 2002, including four victories this season, several other drivers continue to slog through winless streaks that extend well beyond one of the series' 36-race seasons.

Juan Pablo Montoya has a bottle of French wine at home that was given to him as a gift from a friend in Malaysia, who told the driver to save it for a very special occasion. One problem: Montoya doesn't drink alcohol. Should he become the first foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR championship, Montoya is willing to make an exception. "It's a beautiful French wine," he explained. "I don't like wine. But I would drink that wine if we win." Don't pull the bottle opener out just yet -- Montoya still has a long way to go in his quest for a Sprint Cup Series title.

'He shrugs it off like he doesn't care about anybody or anything. You make him mad and it's, "Well, I've got a five-year contract, and I'll just wreck you every week." It's hard to talk to him and he doesn't really respect anyone around him.' Kevin Harvick, on NASCAR rookie Juan Pablo Montoya

Tony Stewart made a late outside pass on Juan Pablo Montoya and held on Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway to end a winless streak at 30 races. Stewart hadn't even had a top-five finish this season and was stuck in 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. He took the lead with the pass with three laps left in the 400-mile race. Seven-time Dover winner Jimmie Johnson appeared to have the car to beat but jumped a restart and had to serve a pass-through penalty.

Kevin Harvick won Saturday night's race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway by plowing through traffic on a two-lap sprint to the finish. Juan Pablo Montoya was trying to hold off Harvick for his first win since 2010 when the caution came out with four laps remaining. It sent the race into two laps of overtime, and most of the field gave up track position to pit for tires. Montoya came off pit road in sixth and Harvick was seventh for the restart. But Harvick rocketed through the field to snatch away the win. Clint Bowyer was second, Joey Logano third, and Montoya settled for fourth.